I still can’t believe it, says Halappa

Arjun Halappa still cannot believe that he has been anointed captain of the Indian hockey team but as he prepares himself for the pressure cooker job, the veteran mid-fielder feels that a skipper should always lead by example. Halappa has been a veteran of Indian hockey, having served the national team for nearly a decade.

However, it is the first time he will be leading the national team after he was named captain for next month’s Azlan Shah Cup in Malaysia.

Title conferred

Malaysia’s Sultan of Perak has conferred a higher royal title on N. Sri Shanmuganathan, an ethnic Indian who captained the country’s World Cup hockey team in 1975, the World Cupbeing held in Kuala Lumpur.

Probables selected

Hockey India today selected 34 probable players for the seventh FIH Women’s Champions Challenge I tournament at Dublin, Ireland after a two-day selection trials at the Major Dhyan Chand National Stadium in the capital.

HI selectors Col Balbir Singh, BP Govinda, Syed Ali, Manohar Topno and Thoiba Singh, besides government observers Harbinder Singh and Dilip Tirkey, shortlisted the probables after the trials which concluded yesterday.

The 18-member Dublin-bound squad is going to be handpicked following the final selection trials in New Delhi on May 9 and 10.